The Gesture: Merrit Wever in "Unbelievable"

Having long been fascinated by gestural movements in acting, we thought we'd try a series on it.  - Ed. 

by Nathaniel R

There is no one working like Merrit Wever. She's so real, so in the moment onscreen, that you can sometimes flash to one of her scenes like its pulled from you own very human memory. No matter how outlandish (Run) or specific (Unbelievable) her situation, you're in the space with her, living it, no cameras in sight. Queen of naturalism!

Take this diner sequence from Unbelievable...

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What did you see this week?

I miss going to the movie theater so much that I ache sometimes. This week inbetween work and stress and social-distanced social activities (sigh), I finished Normal People and Love Victor. Then I made time for Hannah Gadsby's Douglas which was brilliant. Somehow she nailed the very tough follow-up expectations set by Nanette -- I'm still giggling hours later about "Karen's handful" and women's hobbies during the Renaissance.

Finally we screened Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. Regarding the latter, my best friend and I had heard great things but save Rachel McAdam's usual magnetism and Dan "I've got range!" Stevens' pompous hilarity as a seductive Russian pop star, it was dreadful. About 40 minutes too long (no really), predictable at every turn, with death rattle pacing, and Will Ferrell continuing to be the least funny of the successful comic film stars.

What did you see this week? 

Loving "Love, Victor"

by Nathaniel R

Is this what good fan-fiction is like? In the first awkward episode of Love, Victor... and, again in the eighth "very special" cringe-worthy episode, and, fiiine, in scattered bits inbetween in virtually all episodes, the new Hulu series perpetually draws attention to the fact that it's inspired by the motion picture Love, Simon (2018). That said it wisely positions itself as a sequel, rather than a remake.

Instead of writing to a mysterious gay schoolmate online as Simon did in the first mainstream wide release gay romcom, Victor writes to Simon himself, inspired by his story and perpetually sliding into his DMs asking for advice...

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Spike Lee's underrated gems

by Cláudio Alves

It seems like Spike Lee's on everybody's mind these days. First and foremost, we have the release of the director's latest feature, Da 5 Bloods, to thank for such cultural prominence. However, it would be irresponsible not to mention how current events are also bringing people to this filmmaker's oeuvre. In a time when racial injustice is being actively protested on the streets, the Black excellence and political vigor of Spike Lee's movies seem more relevant than ever…

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Major Emmy Rule Changes

by Abe Fried-Tanzer

It’s been a big week for awards announcements. First the Oscars were postponed to April with an expanded eligibility window, and now the Emmys are making sweeping modifications that will affect every single category.

The deadline for contenders in all categories was June 5th, and while we won’t see ballots until July 2nd, it’s clear that the number of submissions are way up from last year by 15%. What that means is that both Best Drama Series and Best Comedy Series will have eight nominees (up from seven) and all of the series acting categories will be based on the number of contenders on the ballot. It’s a lot to process, but we’ll do our best…

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